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Blog Day :

3472

Post No. :

13940

When one talks of star pairings during the golden era of Hindi movies, one thinks of “A grade” star pairings like Raj Kapoor-Nargis, Dilip Kumar- Madhubala, Dilip Kumar-Meena Kumari, Dev Anand- Waheeda Rehman etc. But there were other pairs too, that would be signed up by smaller budget movie makers, like for instance, Ashok Kumar- Nirupa Roy, Kishore Kumar-Vyjyanti Mala etc.

Movie makers with even smaller budgets would sign up up and coming pairs, who may have started off as child artists. One such pair was Shashi Kapoor and Nanda. Unlike some other pairs, this pair delivered quite a few hits and became a dependable pair.

Here is a song picturised on this pair. This playful and cheerful romantic song is from “Mehndi Lagi Mere Haath”(1962). This song is sung by Mahendra Kapoor and Usha Mangeshkar. Anand Bakshi is the lyricist. Music is composed by Kalyanji Anandji.

The song shows playful looking Shashi Kapoor and Nanda teasing each other. The best teasing is reserved in the last stanza of the song where Shashi Kapoor teases the lady -“you show arrogance as if you are baby Nanda.”
Pat comes the retort- “you behave as if you are the kid brother of Raj Kapoor”. 🙂

Great fun lyrics by Anand Bakshi during his early days in Hindi movies.

This song was the sixth song, out of six that this movie had. The earlier five songs, including one multiple version song, have been covered in the blog in the past in 2010 (two songs), 2015 (one multiple version song) and 2017 (one song). Following are the details of the earlier songs from this movie :

This article is written by Raja, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

Just five days ago, I’d written a post here paying tribute to one of the most loved legends of the Hindi film industry, Mohammad Rafi, on his birth anniversary. Referred to by many (including me) as Rafisaab, he was a giant in his field. Yet he remained humble to his last day, never letting success get to his head. He treated everyone with great respect and, in turn, earned the respect of everyone he interacted with.

Today we pay tribute to another legend of the industry on his birth anniversary. Also a superstar in his own right, albeit for a relatively short period of time, he was possibly the best antithesis of Rafisaab in terms of letting success get to his head, treating everyone with great respect, and in turn, earning respect of everyone he interacted with. Thus his career, and his life, turned out to be very different from Rafisaab’s. Everyone goes through ups and downs in his career – and both this person and Rafisaab are not exceptions to this phenomenon.

Yet, even in his “downs”, there were those who stood by Rafisaab. The goodwill he had earned earlier stood him in good stead. On the other hand though, this other legendary person was not so lucky. His airs and rather dismissive (to use the most charitable term I can think of) treatment of others during his heyday, came back to haunt him when he was on his way down. He hadn’t built enough goodwill, his relationships were damaged – this only hastened his downfall. Although he made a somewhat modest recovery later, and even admitted to his earlier mistakes, his image as an arrogant, even mean and vindictive, person stayed till his last day.

This world can be so unforgiving.

By now, I’m sure everyone knows who I am talking about. The one-time superstar of Hindi cinema, the one who at one time could deliver a superhit even if the main character in his film was an elephant, the one whose mere smile and slight shake of the head had audiences in a swoon, the one who set off a rage of buttoned-up silk kurtas as a fashion trend – yes, I am talking about Rajesh Khanna.

He would have been 75 today if he’d been alive. But he didn’t live to even see 70 – he died in 2012, when still just 69. Although he’d been ailing for a while, news of his death still shocked me – I wrote a blogpost on the occasion on my blog, in tribute to him.

See, here’s the thing. I don’t, for one moment, defend Rajesh Khanna for all his wrongdoings, his arrogance, any charges that anyone might level against him. If true, he must rightly be called out for them. So if anyone is trying to troll me by pointing out his failings (this happens sometimes) and expecting me to defend Rajesh Khanna, it won’t work – I will probably wholeheartedly agree with them. I am not living in denial about his misdeeds.

Yet, I can also not deny that Rajesh Khanna’s films provided me with a lot of entertainment and fun in my childhood days, of which I still have very fond memories. It just so happened that his superstar days coincided almost exactly with the time that I was watching Hindi films as a young boy. I have a sort of attachment towards him that is hard to explain – considering everything else. It of course need not have been so. Atul too is of my era – and he has no such attachment. Fair enough. I happen to have it – and even now, I sometimes watch videos of Rajesh Khanna songs of that 1969-1973 period, and get transported to that period.

I was very young then – and initially thought he was singing these songs himself. 🙂 When I was told he was only the actor in front of the camera and that someone else (in this case, Kishore Kumar) was the singer, I remember being a bit disappointed. But that did not take away from the enjoyment of the songs, or his mannerisms, or the films. Later on, when his mannerisms became forced and began to jar, the long hair (which was a fashion at the time) made him look less appealing to me, and the quality of films too began dropping, the charm wore off, not only for India’s masses, but also for me. (After all, I also belonged to those masses).

But for the memories of those few early years, I have always had a soft corner for Rajesh Khanna. That sideways tilt of the head, that dialogue delivery (check out the dialogue just before the song “Daanton Taley Dabaa Kar Honth” from ‘Doli’ – the video is available on YouTube – and you will know what I mean). These are the memories of him I always keep with me. I have not watched many of his later films – maybe because I want to keep his 1969-73 image in my mind and not a 1985 one. Having said that, I’ve heard that some of his 1980s films are worth a watch – so I think I will give them a try.

So, to summarise, yes, Rajesh Khanna had a lot of faults – more than probably any other actor. But he also had a meteoric rise that no other actor had – and , while he need not have let success get to his head – he was also only human. Sometimes maybe you do need extremes to make a point.

Maybe it is examples like Rafisaab (or probably for a more modern generation, Rahul Dravid) and Rajesh Khanna that can be held up for youngsters. When you achieve success, make sure you don’t lose your head. Make sure you follow the Rafisaab (or Dravid) example, not the Rajesh Khanna one. I don’t think Rajesh Khanna himself would mind this. Much later in life, he did realize his mistakes – and warned other youngsters not to fall prey to their own success. A lesson learnt the hard way.

Coming to the song for today. As always with Rajesh Khanna songs, I prefer to roll back the years and go back to the Rajesh Khanna of 1969-73. The film si ‘Joru Ka Ghulaam’ (1972) – one of the films I distinctly remember from my childhood days. It is not one of Rajesh’s biggest hits, but I remember quite liking the film when I saw it. One of its songs, “Nainon Mein, Nindiya Hai”, was very popular in its time. But the other songs were also fairly well-known, as was not uncommon for songs from Rajesh Khanna films at the time.

The song is “Baras Gayi Re Taras Gayi Re”. I had marked this song for a write-up the last time I wrote about Rajesh Khanna, but at the last minute, I decided to go with “O Monalisa” from ‘Dil Daulat Duniya’. I was a bit surprised to find that this song was still available for posting – so here goes.

The lyrics have been provided by Avinashji, who, as everyone knows is a big Rajesh Khanna fan. Even bigger than I am. So when I decided to write this up, he immediately offered to provide the lyrics. I gladly accepted. Thank you, Avinashji.

Hope you enjoy this song. It is written by Anand Bakshi and composed by Kalyanji-Anandji.

This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

This movie had eight songs in it. Three of them have ben covered (long ago).

Here is the fourth song from “Nartaki”(1963) to appear in the blog. This song is sung by Asha Bhonsle. Shakeel Badayuni is the lyricist. Music is composed by Ravi.

The song is picturised as a mujra song on Nanda. The mujra performer in Hindi movies typically looks quite upset and unhappy with her badkismati, but here Nanda appears uncharacteristically joyous and happy while giving this performance. So here is a case where someone is giving her best in her job even if she may not like it. That is professionalism and devotion to duty. 🙂

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“Agra Road” (1957) was produced and directed by Ravindra Dave for Nagina Films, Bombay. This crime movie had Shakila, Vijay Anand, Nanda, Bhagwan, Satish Vyas, Amarnath, Krishnkant, Dhumal, Nazi etc in it.Read more on this topic…

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India got political independence on 15 august 1947, but the course that this newly independent nation wanted to take was not decided for qwuite some time. It was on 26 january 1950 that the nation gave itself its constitution and it was resolved that the nation would be a republic where all citizens would enjoy equal rights.Read more on this topic…

This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

The saga starts in 1947. It is the runaway hit “Afsaana Likh Rahi Hoon Dil e Beqraar Ka” (film ‘Dard’). Not many artists can lay claim to such a meteoric debut. And also, not many can pride themselves with unbroken partnerships and associations with other artists, that have lasted for an entire lifetime.Read more on this topic…

This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

For a soft and lovely and romantic expression, it probably does not get better than this delightful ghazal. The words, the music, and the rendition – all have come together to craft this wonderful expression of bashful love. Love, that wants to say many things, but remains un-speaking, when presented with the opportunity. The anxiety and hesitations tie the tongue, and the moments pass by without a word being said. Shakeel Sb has so beautifully painted the words around this emotion. Each couplet is a priceless gem. I am bowled over with how the words are knitted together.

This article is written by Raja, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.

It is well past 3.00 in the night (early hours of the 18th of July) as I start to write this post for the blog. I’m tired, my eyes are almost closing, I know I should be going to sleep – but the mind is rebelling and urging me on. It is saying “Go on, you can do it, you need to do it. You need to write a post, however tired you are, however badly the post comes out. You cannot let him down. Not on his death anniversary.”Read more on this topic…

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